Holding On
by xxluvstrukxx
Summary: What if a major part of a kid's life was never really there? That's how Troy's life was. Join him as someone reenters his life for a second chance.Of course,what would being reunited with someone be without falling in love with someone else? COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1

Lightning filled the sky as thunder boomed loudly. The Light brown haired boy looked up at the sky one last time before running into his house and locking the door. He took off his drenched shirt and made his way upstairs and into the bathroom. He quickly turned on the shower and looked at himself in the mirror. Blood was dripping from his nose and his right eye was discolored. Just as he was about to run down stairs and get some ice the front door opened meaning his mother had just gotten home for the day.

"Shit." He mumbled below his breath as he walked out into his room looking for anything that could keep his blood from dripping on to the carpet.

"TROY! I'm home!" His mother screamed. He heard footprints making their way upstairs and he quickly ran into the bathroom and shut the door before hopping into the shower with his pants still on.

"Gabriella! Dinner!" The brunette quickly signed off of AIM and made her way downstairs. She had been talking to her friend Nathan about the science homework they had due tomorrow.

"mm… smells good." She said as she sat down in her seat at the table. Across from her was her sister Sarah, and next to Sarah was her brother Kevin. Her mom and dad sat at either end of the table.

"So mommy, today at school we learned how to play 'Mary had a little lamb' on the piano. I was the best. " The Montez's were rather rich and each of them has gone to private school for their whole lives.

"That's wonderful honey." Gabriella rolled her eyes. She loved her sister with all her heart but recently her sister has grown fond of all the brats at school. Now she was starting to act like them.

Gabriella was miraculously able to steer free from all the snobs that went to her school, and trust me there were plenty of them.

"How was football practice today?" Mr. Montez asked.

"Donny needs to work on blitzing and Frank needs to cover me better, but other than that practice was great." Kevin stated matter-of-factly.

Kevin was 3 years older than Gabriella. He was a senior and was quarterback of the school's football team. He didn't want to pursue football even though he had been offered many scholarships from various schools; however he really wanted to be a psychologist and had the brains to be one.

Gabriella was the odd one out. Kevin was smart and Sarah had a lot of potential. Kevin was involved in student council and football while Sarah was following in his footsteps. Gabriella goes to school, and then comes home. She was smart but wasn't the smartest. She was confused about her life, and didn't feel the need to jump into anything.

"May I be excused?" Gabriella asked putting her fork down and looking up to her mother.

"What's the rush?" Mr. Montez asked making Gabriella look over to him.

"I have to study for science. Big test tomorrow."

"I'm sure that can wait." Mrs. Montez piped into the conversation.

Gabriella sighed and picked up her fork once again. She wasn't in the mood to hear about her brother and sister's accomplishments.

"Troy I told you just to ignore him!" His mother said slamming the silverware onto the table.

"I can't Mom! It doesn't work like that!" he said raising his voice.

"You can't just keep living your life like this!" His mother said lowering her voice and talking more sympathetically.

"And I should follow in your footsteps?" He said sarcastically as he dropped onto the couch and put his feet on the coffee table in front of him.

"Hey! Yeah, I've made some mistakes in my life. Sure, my husband cheated on me and my parents disowned me. But I have a lot to offer and so much to live for!" She screamed getting teary.

Troy hated it when she brought up her former husband, A.K.A. his dad. He hated to even think of such an awful person being related to him.

"Oh give it a rest mom." He said, tired of the conversation.

"No! You give it a rest, Troy!" She yelled then quietly added "Ever since she…."

"STOP! I'm done!" Troy screamed as he ran out of the house. He needed to clear his head. He couldn't handle this right now. Not again.

**Sorry it's boring. It'll get better soon. I promise. **


	2. Chapter 2

As Troy turned onto his street he immediately noticed a car in his driveway he only saw on rare occasions. Really rare occasions.

"What the hell is he doing here?!" Troy screamed when he entered the living room.

"Troy, calm down." His mother said looking up at him and then back towards the man sitting on the couch.

"Hey Troy. How're you doing?" The man said awkwardly.

"No! Don't talk to me!" He shot back.

"Troy, He's your father! The least you could do is hear him out." His mother said as she stood from the couch.

"He's not my father! When was the last time he came here without asking for money?! Huh?!" Troy screamed back.

"I'd hate to interrupt but Troy, I Know how I've acted in the past and how it wasn't responsible. But you're mom told me about the fights you've been getting into lately and I suggested that maybe you should come to live with me." His dad said, also standing up from the couch.

"No, Mom! You can't send me away with some stranger!" Troy was getting angrier and angrier.

"I'm afraid I have no choice anymore, Troy." His mom responded feeling ashamed and upset. She hadn't thought it was going to be this hard.

"Troy, I'd like to have the chance to be your father. The father you need, and the father you want." Jack was walking closer to him.

"Well maybe you should've thought of that earlier." Troy retorted throwing his stuff on the floor and running upstairs. He couldn't believe this was actually happening. Sure, his mom used it as a threat but he never actually assumed that she'd call him.

Tears managed to escape Troy's eyes for the first time in years as he pounded his fists against the bedroom wall sending loud bangs throughout the house.

Gabriella was now laying in her bed thinking about what she was going to do tomorrow. Her parents had been bugging her all week about getting out of the house. Who was she supposed to go out with?

She had no real girl friends that lived here, only guy friends and she was forbidden to go out with them. Her parents were overly paranoid. Guys could lead to sex, sex could lead to a teen pregnancy, and that would lead to embarrassment to her family.

She scanned the list of contacts on her phone to see who she could hang out with.

"Am I really that pathetic?" Gabriella muttered to herself putting down the phone. She got up from her bed and walked over to her laptop that was charging on her white desk. She turned it on, squinting her eyes as the bright light filled the dark room.

She signed onto messenger and noticed that she also had several emails. Two were from Nathan, and one was from Sharpay.

Gabriella disregarded Nathan's emails and quickly clicked on Sharpay's. Sharpay Evans was probably her best friend. She moved last year and said that she was going to try and convince her dad to move back. Over the months, however, they stopped sending emails.

_Gabby, _

_OMG! I'm so sorry that I haven't been responding to your emails quicker. I've been super duper busy! So I met this guy and he's SOOO sweet. He's really hot to. Austin, that's his name, he's adorable. Yeah, remember how I was telling you how this guy was showing me around? Well his name was Austin and as I said he was showing me around the school and the city and all that, and then he asked me out!!! So I said yes! And we're still going out! _

_So the other night my dad called me and him down from my bedroom and he had this really apologetic look on his face, just like the one he had when he told me I was moving away from you! I became really angry and Austin didn't know why so he was awfully confused. So my dad was like 'I'm sorry. It's my boss.' And I was like 'you could say no!' and we went on like that for a while and he was like 'but we're moving back to Albuquerque.' And I screamed very loudly, but Austin wasn't very happy, and I couldn't decide whether to be happy or sad. _

_But I'm more happy! I'll be there in 1 week! Can't wait to see you! _

_ Love,_

_ Shar  
_

Gabriella had to keep her hand to her mouth to keep her from screaming. She quickly pressed the reply button and started to type.

_Shar, _

_OMG! This is HUGE! I can't wait to see you again too!!!! Maybe Austin can come down too. I'd love to meet this guy that is supposedly so…. cute. Call me when you land here. We'll have to celebrate! _

_ Love,_

_ Gabby_

Gabriella couldn't remember a time when she had been happier. Sure, she had a great family and great clothes but she never really had anyone to talk to except Sharpay. Now, that she was coming back Gabriella felt a wave of relief sweep over her. She finally had her best friend back.

During the plane ride Troy's dad, Steven had tried to make small talk with his son but everything he tried Troy ignored.

"The plane will be landing shortly. Please make your way to you're seats and refrain from using the bathroom. Thank you." The pilot spoke through the intercom.

Troy was relieved. At least where he was going he had his own room to stay in without having to hear his father's attempts to talk to him.

"Alright, so when we get there I advise you wise up. The quicker you learn to behave the quicker you can go back to your mom. Although, I would like a second chance I don't think you're ready to give me one and I'm sorry for that but for the time being you are going to be living in my house so I'm going to tell you the rules once. That's it." Steven was obsessed with rules. Rules were the foundation to a good society. Rules meant order and discipline.

"No shouting, no locking your bedroom door, lights out by 11:00 pm, no swimming past 7:00 pm unless an adult is present, no parties, no friends over unless we've approved, no food in your room, you're room must be clean at all times in case of unexpected company, no talking back. If you don't obey these rules the longer you're in my house. Understand?" Steve said out of breath but ready to add to his list of rules at any time.

"Gotcha." Troy said sarcastically and began looking out the window again.

"I am serious Troy." Steve looked over his son for the first time since they had left Troy's house. He had a gray hoodie on with dirt all over it. His jeans had holes in them but Steve figured it was just the style now-a-days. His shoes were worn down.

"Ok."

"When we land we're getting you some new clothes."

"No." Troy replied in a monotone.

"Troy, you're shoes are a disgrace. Your sweat shirt has dirt all over it and your jeans have holes in them."

"You don't have to suck up to me. I'm never going to like you." He replied still in monotone.

"Well, I'm sorry to hear that but you aren't wearing those clothes in front of my friends or neighbors."

Troy just groaned. He didn't want anything from his dad. His mom gave him enough and Troy could handle himself. He never needed or would ever need help from his dad.

Gabriella awoke the next morning at 8:30 and made her way to the shower. He was so excited that Sharpay was moving back. She had so much to do!

When she was done swallowing the last bit of her pancakes she put on her shoes and went out to the car.

"Honey, where are you going?" Mrs. Montez asked as she went to stand on the front porch.

"Shopping! Sharpay's coming home." Mrs. Montez scowled as her daughter drove away. She always thought that Sharpay was a bad influence on Gabriella.

Gabriella turned into the mall parking lot and smiled. She hadn't been to the mall in such a long time. She loved watching the little kids holding their mothers hand with the biggest smiles on their faces because they got a new toy. Everyone looked happy, so Gabriella was happy. She locked her door and walked briskly toward the mall entrance.

She walked into her favorite store, American Eagle, and saw the perfect outfit. She was so mesmerized that she ran right into someone.

"Watch where you're going!" A boy that looked about her age said. He had messy light brown hair and the most gorgeous blue eyes Gabriella had ever seen.

"Troy! Apologize!" Steven said as he turned to see what the commotion was about.

"No, no. It was my fault. I'm sorry." Gabriella said a little scared of the expression the boy was giving her.

"Oh, Hello Gabriella." Steve said as soon as he realized who his son was talking to.

"Hi, Mr. Bolton. How are Lizzy and Ben doing?" Gabriella said smiling.

"Oh they're doing fine. Can you still baby-sit tonight?"

"Oh, sure. 6:00 right?" Gabriella said stepping away. She didn't want to sound rude but she really wanted to get the shopping over with.

"Yes. Thanks."

"Sorry again!" Gabriella said as she sped off to the place she first saw the outfit.


	3. Chapter 3

"Daddy!" Two kids screamed as they ran out the front door.

"Troy, this is Elizabeth and Benjamin." Steven said as he bent down and gave the girl and boy a hug and kiss.

"Daddy, Whose this?" Elizabeth asked looking up at Troy.

"Well Elizabeth, this is Troy, your older brother." Troy stood there silent, not really knowing what to say.

"How come I've never met him?"

"Well, he didn't live with us."

"Why not?"

"He lives with his mom but he's staying with us for a little while."

"Why?"

"Elizabeth, why don't you and Benjamin go play in the back yard?"

"Fine." Elizabeth and Ben said and made their way through the gate into the back yard.

Troy could hear them laughing from where he stood in the front yard. Elizabeth had curly blonde hair and from what he could tell, a very talkative little girl. Ben, on the other hand, had short light brown hair and didn't say much.

"Alright, Let's get you settled into your room." Steve said picking up one of Troy's suitcases and carrying it into the big house that was ahead of them.

Troy took a deep breath and looked once again at the house. It was a lot bigger than his and a lot bigger than he expected it to be. It had a red door and trees all around the front yard. The house was yellow and had a huge front porch.

"Troy!" Steven yelled and Troy ran into the house.

"What?"

"Let's go." They walked up the stairs and down the hall until the came across a door. "Alright, now, I let my wife pick everything in this room out for you. I haven't seen it finished yet, but I'm sure it looks great. I'll leave you to it." Steve put down Troy's suitcase and walked downstairs.

Walking into the room, Troy was in awe. The walls were blue as well as the carpets. A dark brown desk was positioned in front of one of the windows. His bed was a king sized bed and had blue blankets on it.

Troy walked over to his new bed and fell on top of it. It felt brand new. He lifted his head and noticed a door across from him. He stood up and opened the door to reveal his very own bathroom. Unlike his room the main color was white. He walked out of the bathroom and sat on his bed again taking everything in.

* * *

Gabriella flopped onto her bed and opened her laptop. She had so much to tell Nathan.

She opened up Itunes and started dancing around her room cleaning whatever she could. Without noticing it, she had been dancing and cleaning for hours. She looked at the clock and saw that it was 5:45.

"Shit!" Gabriella put on a pair of comfortable sweat pants and a tank top before grabbing her purse and making her way to the Bolton's house.

* * *

"Troy!" Steven called from downstairs, making Troy jump up. He must've fallen asleep while unpacking. He ran his hand through his hair and stretched.

"Yeah?" Troy said from the top of the stairs.

"I'm leaving. I'm going to meet Lauren at the Donderson's Party down the street. Gabriella is here and is playing with the kids in the back yard. They have to go to bed at 8:00, which Gabriella knows. I told Gabriella to just stay until we get home because you're new here and you don't really know what to do if one of them wakes up."

"Ok." Troy responded.

"Can you please say more than one word at a time to me?"

"Why? It's not like you ever called to talk to me!"

"Troy…"

"That was eleven words." Troy said and walked back into his room. He hadn't wanted to come here.

* * *

From downstairs Gabriella had heard the entire conversation. She had reentered the house to get Ben a coat because it was getting cold. She wasn't exactly sure who the boy Mr. Bolton was talking to was but she prayed that he wasn't the same one she had run into in the store. The boy in the store seemed mean and ignorant, while the boy at the top of the stairs just seemed betrayed and heartbroken.

"Gabriella!" Ben screamed as he ran into the house and up to her. "What's taking you so long?"

Gabriella turned around startled. "Uh… sorry. I was just going to get a drink." She said and smiled, making her way into the kitchen.

"Can I have some apple juice?" He asked looking up at her.

"Sure. Where is your sister?"

"On the swing set."

"Can you please go get her? She shouldn't be out there by herself." Smiling, the boy ran outside and called his sister.

Gabriella sighed in relief. She wasn't normally nosy but she couldn't help but over hear what was going on with Mr. Bolton.

"Gabriella, I'm leaving now." Mr. Bolton walked into the kitchen and grabbed one of the cookies his wife baked for the arrival of Troy.

"Ok."

"If Troy comes downstairs, which I doubt he will, can you just show him around? He won't let me do it." Mr. Bolton's face was pleading. He seemed really hurt that he wasn't the one showing Troy around, but maybe it was what he deserved.

* * *

**Sorry that it's so short. It's not even 1,000 words. So sorry. Next one will be out soon. **

**Any ideas? Leave a comment or message me. **


	4. Quick Update

Quick update:

Sorry for the wait guys. My brother broke his laptop and that's where all my files for Holding On are. So Idk when he's getting it back from the store but when he does Holding On will be updated regularly again. Sorry.

MERRY CHRISTMAS! Well it's tomorrow but oh well. What are you guys asking for?


	5. Chapter 4

Ben and Elizabeth fell asleep on the couch while watching _Finding Nemo_. Thankfully Gabriella now had time to finish some of the homework she had brought.

She heard footsteps coming from the stairs and turned around to see who it was. To her surprise it was Troy. He looked like he was trying to be quiet and sneaky and from what Steven had told her, his sneakiness wasn't a good sign. So being the fantastic babysitter was she got up from the couch and stood behind him.

"What are you doing?" Gabriella said to him suddenly. He jumped and turned around startled.

"Jesus Christ! You scared the shit out of me!" The two kids started to move and Gabriella shushed him. "Sorry, but did you really have to sneak up on me like that? My god." He whispered this time.

"I didn't mean to surprise you." Lying, Gabriella started to walk towards the bathroom. "So what is it exactly that you would like?"

"I can't just walk around my new house?"

"No."

"Oh. Well then, I was getting something to eat." He said following her.

"Unfortunately the kitchen is closed right now. It's part of the rules." She smiled but never turned around.

"Please?!"

"Stop screaming! You're going to wake them up!"

"If I stop screaming will you let me into the kitchen?"

"Possibly." She stopped and turned around suddenly causing him to run into her.

He took a step back and said, "What now?"

"Are you going to follow me into the bathroom?" She asked a smile creeping upon her face.

"Uh… no?"

"Then turn around and walk away." She said as she opened the door in front of her and walked inside the room.

"God you're bossy." The front door opened causing Troy once again to jump.

"Gabriella?" Steven called from inside the living room.

"I'm in the bathroom." Gabriella whispered.

Troy was now sitting down and leaning against the door. "I know that."

"Tell him."

"Why don't you?" he whispered back.

"Just do it." She was starting to get annoyed.

Steven walked into the hallway leading to the bathroom. He saw Troy leaning against the door. "Did Gabriella leave?"

"Nope." He mumbled.

"Then where is she?" Steven was starting to get annoyed with his son's lack of words.

"Bathroom." Just as Troy was about to stand up Gabriella swung the door open causing Troy to fall backwards.

"I'm right here." She said as she stepped over Troy like he wasn't even there.

**I know, I know. Really short but I think that's how I'm going to make them from now on. That way I can update quicker.** **I promise though, that they won't get any shorter than this…. Hopefully. Lol. **


	6. Chapter 5

Troy stood up once he realized that nobody was going to help him up. He walked into the family room where everybody was talking.

"Oh Troy!" Lauren said as she pulled him into a hug. "I've heard so much about you!"

"Hi." Troy said awkwardly as he hugged her back.

"Did you like your room? I didn't know if you liked blue or green better, so I chose blue. I hope you don't mind." To Troy she looked like she was trying too hard to be friendly but maybe that's just how she was.

"No, I like it. Thanks." Troy had thought about saying that he would've preferred red or something just to make his dad mad but he didn't want to make her think that he didn't like her, especially since she was the one who was probably going to be cooking his meals.

Gabriella watched from afar as the mean guy in the store acted sweet to someone he'd probably never even met before. She couldn't help but smile.

"Gabriella, did you eat?" The thought of food caused Troy's head to rise instantly and look around the room.

Gabriella who had been watching for Troy's reaction had started to giggle. "Actually I didn't."

"What about you Troy?" Steven asked.

"No." Troy made it his goal to only say one word to his dad, but everyone else would receive whole sentences. He had always been talkative so this was a challenge for him.

"Troy what would you like?" Lauren asked making her way towards the kitchen door and opening it with ease.

"You said the kitchen was locked." He whispered to Gabriella while following Lauren.

"Actually, I said it was closed. You just assumed it was locked." She whispered as she got in front of him cutting him off.

Steven who had been watching from a distance smiled at just how comfortable these teens were with each other. He remembered a time when he felt that comfortable with someone else; Troy's mother. Everyone around them made up excuses for their separation, Married too young, had a kid too early, weren't really in love, and didn't know what they were doing. Steven and Lucille were in love. They were just under some stress because of a new born. They weren't experienced with kids so they took it out on each other. Steven left the house one night to get some space and when he returned all of his stuff was on the front lawn.

He was too frustrated to even enter the house so he took it and loaded his car and drove away. Lucille wanted him to come back home. She thought that because he didn't even try to reenter the house that he didn't think she was worth it.

A couple days later, however, Steven returned to the house only to find a young man in the house that he had never seen before. He was devastated, heartbroken, and alone. He left without an ounce of happiness.

About a year and a half later, the day after Troy's 2nd birthday, he got into a fight with Lucille over custody of Troy. Lucille had won leaving Steven even more heartbroken than he was before. Troy was just as much his as he was hers but apparently the court didn't see it that way. He couldn't take it anymore so he left to live in California; far enough that he wouldn't run into Lucille at the grocery store, but close enough that if Troy or Lucille ever needed him he'd be there right away.

Steven shook his head and followed everyone into the kitchen. He realized that Troy didn't know half of the story, and probably never would.

**So, you got to understand Steve's side of the story. So… yeah. I hope you enjoyed. Luv ya!**

**PS: Turns out my brother's laptop never really broken; he just hid it from me so I wouldn't use it anymore! It's times like these when I wish murdering wasn't illegal. ;) Lol. Jk. **

**Next update Tomorrow! **


	7. Chapter 6

**I know it's an overused excuse by a lot of authors on Fanfiction, but I've been super busy with school work and I had to re write everything because my cats broke my brother's laptop charger so I have to use the computer now. I'm super Sorry. I hope the length of this chapter makes up for lost time. :) Enjoy!**

Gabriella didn't know why but while she lay in her bed late that night, she couldn't help but think about Troy. She wanted to stop but couldn't. It was like she was addicted, but she doesn't even know who the guy really is. It was new to her, and she didn't know whether to cherish it or fear it.

* * *

Troy woke up panting the next morning. He had the same reoccurring nightmare he'd been having for the past 4 years. It didn't happen every night but it happened enough that it sometimes caused a problem with school work.

_ He was standing there in a crowd of people. He looked around only to see people opening and closing their mouths as if they were chanting. Why couldn't he hear what they were saying? _

_ He shut his eyes in hopes to make his ears work, but when he opened them he was on the floor and a big husky man stood in front of him with what Troy assumed to be his own blood. Troy put his hand to his mouth and noticed he was bleeding. He stood up and the sound of the crowd began to flood his ears. They were screaming "Fight!" over and over again, but Troy didn't want to fight. Troy wanted to sit down, he wanted to sleep, and he wanted his mom. _

_ Suddenly he was sitting in a different room, looking at the floor. When he looked up a strange man he had never seen before was standing in front of him, angrilly. _

_ "You are such a disapointment Troy!" He would say over and over again. _

_ "I'm the disappointment?! You're the one that left!" Troy would rebuttle until his mom appeared in the doorway. _

_ "Troy, he's right. It was a mistake to ever have had you." Troy looked at his mom and expected her to take it back or say "just kidding" but it never happened. _

_ He looked back and forth between the two grown-up figures in front of him unable to say a word. He'd disappointed them both. He had left them both down and now they were standing there looking at him to say something. He began to open his mouth but he was cut off by the man pointing a gun at him. He looked at his mom who stood there smiling at the man and shaking her head in the direction of her son. Then there was always a bang. _

Troy looked around the room unable to catch his breath just yet. He walked to the window and opened it up. Taking a deep breath of fresh air he looked back into his new room. He was sweating but at the moment he didn't care. It was only 4:00 in the morning but no matter how hard Troy tried he couldn't fall back asleep; Afraid that if he did, he wouldn't be able to escape the awful dream. What had he done to deserve the abandonment he felt? By both his mom and his dad.

* * *

"Troy. Get up." He heard Lauren say from outside his door. He looked at the clok that now read 12:00 PM. He sighed and sat up letting his covers fall to his stomach.

"Ok." Troy reluctantly stood up and stretched then made his way to the bathroom to get into the shower.

* * *

Gabriella was scheduled to work today at the Bolton's house, but was reluctant to go. It's not that she didn't love the opportunity that they gave her to make some extra money because she did; she was just so damn tired from thinking last night and she didn't want to have to deal with the cocky guy that they were now housing.

"Gabriella. It's 2 o'clock. Why aren't you out of bed?" Her mom walked into her bedroom uninvited. Gabriella sighed annoyed and sat up in her bed.

"I don't know." she said with as much attitude she could muster.

"Gabriella you have to be at the Bolton's in 30 minutes." Gabriella once again allowed an aggravated sigh escape her lips.

"What's wrong Sweetie?"

"Nothing." Gabriella got out of bed and walked towards her dresser taking out whatever she could find. Annoyed Mrs. Montez walked out of the room and slammed the door making Gabriella sigh for the third time in the past 5 minutes.

* * *

"Lizzie! Get downstairs!" Steven screamed from the bottom of the steps. She had been upstairs playing Monopoly with Troy. Lizzie ran downstairs laughing as Troy chased her.

"Alright. Gabriella is around back with your brother. Make sure that you behave and your mom and I will be back in about 5 hours. Have fun." Steven calmly said as he kissed his little girl on the top of the head before she proceeded to run out back.

"How was your first night here?" Steven asked hoping to spark a conversation.

"Yeah." The lie slipped easily from Troy's lips.

"Come on Troy. You can't just come into my house and ignore me! I am still your Father!"

"Yeah some dad! You left! You never came back! You can't just put me on a fucking plane and expect me to act like your perfect Son!" Troy yelled not caring that Lauren had just walked into the room with Gabriella following behind.

"HEY! Watch your language! I did come back! I fought you! I lost! It's done and nothing we do is going to change the past but I'm Trying to make up for my decisions! You're in my house, you are going to show me some respect!"

Troy couldn't believe what he had just heard. His mom never mentioned the custody battle but before he could fully think things through he heard a loud scream in the back yard coming from Lizzie's mouth. The all quickly ran outside forgetting the conversation that had just happened in the middle of the living room. It didn't matter right now. What mattered was Lizzie, only Lizzie.


	8. Chapter 7

**Ok, Chapter 6 was actually supposed to be up last week and that was still late. I actually thought that I uploaded it though, but apparently I never put it up and I'm extra sorry. I was really surprised when I signed onto to Fanfiction and noticed that it was never actually made public. Sorry again. **

Lizzie was screaming and grasping her arm beneath the swing set when Troy got outback. He and Steven tried to calm her down and ask what happened but she just continued to cry. Troy took a quick look at her arm and instantly knew that it was broken. He wasn't any sort of doctor, and almost failed his Biology course, but it didn't take much sense to know that it was broken.

Gabriella on the other hand wasn't able to process what was happening. She didn't even understand what she was looking at. What she wanted to know, had made her change her opinion on the people she saw every day. Mr. Bolton had been divorced. Mr. Bolton might have cheated on the real Mrs. Bolton, not Lauren. Troy had been the forgotten child.

"Gabriella! Call the paramedics!" Troy was screaming at her but she wasn't hearing him. She was too caught up in her own thoughts to pay attention to the problem right in front of her eyes. "Gabriella!" Troy stood up and was now standing in front of her. She blinked her eyes and took note of the crisis that was happening. She took one look at Lizzie's arm and barfed all over Troy's shirt.

* * *

"I'm sorry again." Gabriella said for the fifth time in the past ten minutes.

"Oh no. It's fine. My shirt needed some color anyway." Troy said sarcastically.

"Troy. Go change." Steven said from across the room.

"No clothes." Troy didn't want to talk to anyone. He was still thinking about what Steven had said.

"Gabriella will take you to the gift shop. You can get a new shirt and maybe something for Lizzie." Gabriella nodded and looked at Troy expecting him to stand up, but he didn't. He sat there looking as if he were in a whole different world.

"Troy!" Gabriella screamed in his ear. He jumped and glared at her. "Your dad gave me money. We're going to the gift shop." She pulled his hand and dragged him towards the elevator.

"What the fuck?!" Troy said once they reached the elevator. Gabriella was taken aback by his harsh words. "First you throw up on me, then you drag me somewhere i don't want to go?!"

"Listen, _Bolton" _Gabriella said emphasizing the word 'Bolton' to make clear that she knew the situation, "I know what happened to you and I understand that it sucks. You shouldn't take stuff out on me, or anyone else for that matter! You have no right to yell at me. Throwing up on you was an accident! I apologized for that! Dragging you away was because I was told to take you to the fricking gift shop! I thought that maybe you would need to get away from your dad, or Steve, or whatever the hell you want to call him, so that you can wrap your head around all the information! God! Your such an asshole!" She said throwing the $50.00 Steve gave her to give to Troy.

They stood there in silence until the elevator doors opened again on the Lobby floor. Gabriella quickly exited and made her way into the gift shop leaving Troy behind to collect the money that she threw.

"Look I'm sorry, ok?" Troy said as he ran to catch up to her.

"Save it, _Bolton"_

"Listen, you can call me anything else you want but I will never, ever be a Bolton. You got that!?" Gabriella searched his eyes for any drop of anger that she could feed her anger with, but instead she only saw regret, sadness, and pain. "Look, I'm sorry that I yelled at you. I shouldn't have, you didn't do anything to me."

Gabriella didn't know what to say. She didn't know whether to apologize or to start a new conversation. So she chose to do neither and let him make the decision.

Troy was waiting for Gabriella to say something, anything. He wasn't good at this stuff. He never really talked to girls. Well he did, but they weren't like Gabriella. Everything mean he said to Gabriella made him feel guilty. He wanted her to yell at him. He wanted her to forgive him. However, she remained silent.

"Forgive me?" He asked once he came to the realization that she wasn't going to say anything more.


	9. Chapter 8

**Special Thanks to OnceaWildcatAlwaysAWildcat. She has commented on almost every chapter of Holding On, and it is very much appreciated. :) **

Troy sat quietly on his bed exhausted, but he wasn't able to fall asleep. Way too much was going through his head. His mom never mentioned the struggle and effort his dad had made to keep Troy part of _his_ family.

It was easier to think that Steve had never fought, that he left and never looked back. Even though that hurt and left Troy confused, it was easier. He never had to pick sides, because his mom had never given him the chance to. On the contrary, no one had taught him to ride a bike, play sports, or get girls. And the sex talk with his mom had been quite awkward.

Suddenly thinking about all that he had missed Troy began to feel angry. Who did his mom think she was? She cut off half of his life, half of his family, just so she could meet her selfish needs. During his early years, Day after day, night after night, he had woken up crying becuase he didn't understand where his dad had been, and why he had to go there. She consoled him telling him 'everything was going to be fine' when all she had to do was pick up the phone and call Steven, but she didn't.

* * *

Gabriella woke up on the bolton's couch after a late night at the hospital. She looked at the clock and it read 11:00. Stretching and yawning, she made her way to the kitchen only to find a note with her name on it.

_Dear Gabriella,_

_We have gone to work. Since you were supposed to work at 12:00 anyway we figured that you wouldn't mind just staying. The maid was told to watch Lizzie and Ben until you or Troy wake up, but we're going to assume that you'll be up first. If Troy isn't up by 10:30 feel free to wake him up. There is money on the counter if you are too tired to cook lunch and you just want to order pizza. _

_Love, _

_ Lauren_

Gabriella looked around the kitchen assuming that Troy wasn't awake because the kitchen wasn't a mess yet. She walked upstairs passing the maid.

"Hi. The kids haven't woken up yet." Rachel, the maid told her as she passed her on the stairs.

"Ok. I will get them up soon." Gabriella replied with the most sincere smile she could muster and continued down the hall way to Troy's room. She knocked on the door making it open slightly. "Troy?" There wasn't an answer so she proceeded to open the door.

"Go away..." He mumbled. He stayed up until 8:00 In the morning only getting about 3 hours of sleep instead of the normal 10 hours he'd usually get if it would have been a normal night.

"But you have to get up. It's already 11:00 and you have to help me watch Lizzie and Ben."

"No.." He whined as he threw the pillow over his head and turned to face the opposite direction.

"Come on. We didn't get home that late. You had to have gotten some sleep." Thinking of sleep she let out a small yawn followed be the compelling need to stretch.

"Go away...." she walked over to the bed and sat down next to him on it. She didn't know what had given her the confidence to do so but before she realized it, it had already been done. He seemed unfazed by her sitting there so she found herself more at ease.

"Come on... get up." Pushing him a little to wake him up more and irritate him, she began to chant the four words over and over again. He jumped up a little alarmed, not exactly sure of his surroundings at the moment. He had fallen asleep before she had even gotten on the bed. He looked around the room and met her eyes.

She could see how tired he actually was but didn't understand why. they had gotten home around 11:00 which would've given him about 12 hours of sleep if he had gone to sleep right away, but he obviously hadn't. However she didn't allow herself to dwell on that fact and she began to look him over. His hair was every which way, which made her want to laugh, but she held it in. He was wearing a red shirt that had the letters WH printed on it. She figured that it was the initials of his school, or former school. She didn't really know how long he was staying.

"Why... what... huh?" He spit out not really ale to form the right words. He ran a hand through his already messy hair.

"You have to get up."

"What time is it?" He sat up and yawned, then looked at her.

"11:15." She replied looking away from him reluctantly because as much as she hated to admit it, he looked really hot when he was tired.

"Well... what are you doing in here?" He asked rubbing the palm of his hand over his eyes.

"I repeat... You. Have. To. Get. Up." She said louder causing him to groan and fall back down onto the bed making it shake.

"Gabriella! Troy!" Lizzie screamed as she ran into the room.

"Yeah?" Gabriella turned to the little girl standing in the doorway.

"I'm hungry." Gabriella and Troy sighed as each of them got up and followed Lizzie down the stairs to get breakfast.


	10. Chapter 9

**The next couple of chapters might seem a little slow, but that's only because I feel like the past couple of chapters were rushed. So, anyway, here's another chapter. Hope you enjoy. **

Troy looked over the brunette standing in front of him. She was hunched over the oven flipping pancakes for the two kids that stood beside him. Benjamin was wearing some dinosaur pj's that made Troy laugh. Lizzie was wearing princess pjs and was watching Gabriella very intently.

"Can I try?" Lizzie asked Gabriella suddenly.

"Uh... sure, here." Gabriella hesitantly handed the spatula to Lizzie watching very carefully as the little kid tried to flip the pancakes.

"Good job! You're an expert cook." Gabriella said excitedly as the blonde girl in front of her had managed to flip one of the pancakes. Lizzie smiled big up at her babysitter. Her mom would never let her help with breakfast, lunch or dinner. All the meals had to be perfect. Lizzie wanted to show her mom that she could help. She put the spatula underneath the remaining pancake and looked behind her at Troy and Ben. Troy smiled at her and gave her a thumbs up and Ben was looking away. Smiling back at Troy she flipped the pancake without looking and turned around to see it had landed on the floor beside her foot.

"Smooth..." Benjamin spoke. "Now what are we going to have for breakfast?" Lizzie couldn't believe it. She had done the first one perfectly.

Troy was now laughing hysterically, not at Lizzie but the whole situation, but that's how Lizzie took it. She started crying and began to retreat from the kitchen. Troy got in her way and knelt down.

"Hey... it's just a pancake, Liz." Gabriella nodded at Troy's words as she bent down to Lizzie's eye level as well.

"But I ruined breakfast..." Lizzie sniffed a little and wiped her eyes.

"No you didn't. We'll just give that pancake to Troy."

"Of Course we will...." Troy followed up glaring at Gabriella.

The rest of the day was spent playing games and watching movies. Ben and Lizzie fell asleep half way through watching The Lion King so Gabriella and Troy put on The Hangover. Steven and Lauren came home later than expected at around midnight. By that time, Troy had carried Ben and Lizzie to their rooms and Gabriella was long gone. Troy was now asleep as well due to his late night last night.

"You need to fix things, Steven." Lauren spoke as the subject of Troy traveled into her thoughts.

"I already tried. Besides, he's leaving in a week." Steven frowned knowing where this conversation was going. It wasn't going to end quickly or painlessly.

"No, he's not. I called Lucille yesterday and we had a great conversation. Troy is staying for the whole summer." Lauren replied getting into her bed.

"You called my ex-wife!?" Steven screamed angrilly causing his current wife to jump.

"Steven, stop yelling, you'll wake the kids." Lauren said in a hushed tone. "Besides, it needed to be done. He's your son, and you need to spend more time with him."

"He obviously doesn't want to be here!"

"He's doing just fine here... He will come around."

"Fine, then you tell him." Steven said as he exited the room.

"Steven..." Lauren called after him knowing it was too late to get him to come back in. She sighed as she turned off the light.

* * *

The next morning Troy woke up at 8 o'clock in the morning. It was Saturday, so both Steven and Lauren were home. Thankfully, Troy only had to spend one more week here, and that was it. He'd be done with his father.

* * *

Sharpay and Gabriella arrived at the mall at about 10:00 am.

"How long do we have to stay here for?" Gabriella whined as they walked into their 3rd store in an hour.

"Oh, give it a rest." Sharpay rebutted turning to face her best friend. "I haven't been here to go shopping with you. I've missed you Gabby. Let me shop with you." Trying to make Gabriella feel sorry for her, was one of Sharpay's specialties, and it worked today like it had worked ever since they were little.

"Sorry, I'm just really stressed with work and everything." Gabriella ran a hand through her tangled hair. She left the Bolton's at 10:00 last night and then her mom made her get up at 6:00 in the morning to go to her little sister's volley ball game. She got home from the game around 9 only to be forced, by Sharpay, to go to the mall.

"You still work for the Bolton's?"

"Yeah..." Gabriella sighed. Babysitting for the Bolton's was only supposed to be temporary until she got a job at the local super market, but she got attached to the kids and just couldn't leave.

"Gabby, you need to stop. They don't pay you enough to me you so exhausted all the time. It's not worth it."

"Actually, they have a new guy living in the household, so he helps." Sharpay looked at her with wide eyes.

"Is he cute? Can I meet him?" Sharpay was squealing and jumping up and down in the middle of American Eagle. "What does he look like?" She added as an afterthought.

"Well.... some might call him cute. I guess you could meet him. He has brown hair and blue eyes." She started to smile as she described him.

"Alright! Let's go!" Sharpay screamed Gabriella's hand and started running toward the exit of the mall.

"What? Where are we going now?'

"To the Bolton's!"


	11. Chapter 10

Most of the day had been a blur to Gabriella, and now she found herself being pulled by her best friend, to the Bolton's front door. Gabriella didn't really know what to think, or what she was even going to say.

"Sharpay... I'm not even scheduled to work today. It's going to look weird if I just show up on their doorstep." Gabriella whined. Sharpay ignored her like all the other times Gabriella tried to get out of it.

"No. You said I could meet him and I want to meet him. Now knock on the door." Sharpay pushed her friend towards the door just as it opened revealing Lizzie and Ben.

"Uh.... hey Lizzie... and Ben. W-what's going on?" Gabriella questioned.

"Daddy is making Troy take us to the zoo." Lizzie said. In one hand Lizzie was carrying a water bottle, and on her back was a book bag. The other arm was covered in a pink cast.

"I don't want to go." Ben said as he crossed his arms.

"Well, why not?" Gabriella asked, now fully composed.

"I don't like Troy." He said as he shook his head like the little kid he was.

"Aw... there's no reason not to like him."

"Please.... don't make me go Gabriella." Ben pleaded with big puppy dog eyes.

"Well... what if we went with you?" Sharpay spoke up from the front lawn where she had been standing watching the whole conversation un fold.

"Alright guys... come on." Troy said as he shut the front door. "What are you doing here... again?"

"Well Sharpay, here, wanted to meet you." Gabriella smiled as her friend blushed. Gabriella instantly regretted saying that as a sly smile crept onto Sharpay's face.

"Wow... he's just as hot as you said he was." Sharpay smiled and walked over to Troy.

"I did not say that!" Gabriella practically screamed.

"Calm down." Troy said. "Are you two coming too?" "Great..." He added as the two girls nodded their heads.

"We're not that bad." Gabriella defended, but knew it was pointless. He could think what he wanted, and what he was thinking right now scared him because the subjects of his thoughts centered around the brunette standing in front of him.

**I know that it's short but I wanted to get this out today because for the rest of the weekend, I'm going to be on Vacation. I will be back on Sunday for Easter though, so next update will probably be on Monday, and it'll hopefully be longer than this. Thanks for reading! Don't forget to review. :) **


	12. Chapter 11

**I originally started writing this, but had a brain fart half way through and deleted everything. Frustrated, I closed the document all together and planned to start again tomorrow, but then I checked my email and read all those lovely comments on the last episode and got really excited. So here I am again, staring at a blank document. But I will not give up this time. Thanks so much for the comments! :) **

"Wow... You're really muscular aren't you?" Sharpay asked leaning over Troy and touching his cheek. By now, it was something he was used to considering the entire hour they were in the car, she did the exact same thing. Not that he didn't appreciate the compliments, he just didn't appreciate her being so close.

They had now been at the zoo for about 2 hours, but had only seen about half of the animals. With Lizzie and Ben having to go to the bathroom every two minutes, and Troy always being hungry, and Sharpay having the dire need to visit the gift shop, there was absolutely no way they could've finished the zoo in the two hours they had been there. They were now sitting at a picnic table eating their lunch, that Troy generously paid for.

Gabriella watched the two people across from here in envy. Why couldn't she be like Sharpay, easy going and spontaneous? She couldn't figure out why, but in a way she was glad she wasn't like Sharpay. Troy was being smothered by Sharpay and her cheap perfume. Although he came off as being indifferent about her hanging all over him, she could tell that he wasn't very happy. But then again, what did she know? She just met the guy.

"When are we going to see the giraffes?" Lizzie asked as she stuffed her mouth with a bunch of fries coated completely in ketchup.

"Whenever you want to, bud." Troy replied pulling himself away from Sharpay.

"No! I want to see the lions and tigers!" Ben sighed.

"We can do that too." Troy replied standing up and stretching his legs.

"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I wanna go home and take a nice, hot bath." Sharpay now stood next to Troy with her arms around his waist. Gabriella scoffed at her friend's actions. Troy laughed awkwardly and removed her hands from his hips.

"I don't want to go home..." Lizzie and Ben both said in unison.

"Yeah, me neither." Gabriella said in response, then glared in Sharpay's direction. Gabriella wasn't really sure why, but she had a feeling in the pit of her stomach, and it wasn't nice. She felt as if she hated Sharpay more with each word Sharpay spoke. It was if, she said anything wrong, Gabriella would punch her.

"Well... no one asked you, _Gabriella." _Sharpay glared at her friend then looked back at Troy.

"Alright, so who wants to see the rest of the animals?" Troy was trying to sound light hearted and excited.

"Me!"

"Great.." Sharpay sighed, defeated and started to follow the rest of the group as they made their way towards the cages filled with filthy animals.

The rest of the day wasn't very pleasant. Between the constant flirting coming from Sharpay and the bickering between her and Gabriella, Troy wasn't able to get a break. Now that they were home and stationed on the couch. Sharpay had gone home, and Gabriella had agreed to help put the kids to bed. Lucille and Steve had gone out for the night to some sort of dinner.

"So...." Gabriella started as she looked at the sandy haired boy sitting next to her. He looked absolutely exhausted.

"You two fight a lot." Troy noted and turned to face her.

"Yeah... well. Most people do."

"You were jealous." At this comment, she turned a dark shade of red.

"No, I wasn't. It was just completely disgusting what she was doing and talking about in front of the little kids. It was unreasonable, and unnecessary."

"And now you're rambling." Troy smiled confidently and even though it was meant to annoy her, she liked it. His teeth were an incredible shade of white and his eyes were a perfect shade of blue.

"I never ramble."

"I find that hard to believe."

"Well, I don't and I wasn't jealous."

"Alright, whatever you say." Troy's smile was now one of an amused kid on Christmas day.

For the next passing seconds they stared at each other in wonder. What was the other thinking? Was Troy right? Or was Gabriella. Questions and thoughts ran through their head at a high pace causing confusion. Gabriella's thoughts and confusion were replaced with anticipation and relief as Troy began leaning toward her. His face now only inches away from hers, she prepared herself was what to come.

"We're home!" Steven called from the front door. Troy jumped back, nervous and looked toward the door.

"Great."

"Oh, Gabriella you're still here?" Steve noticed as he walked into the living room.

"I had to help put the kids to bed." She smiled noting that Steven looked nervous and anxious.

"Ah. Well thanks for your help." His voice sent the message that he was trying to get rid of her so she stood up and started walking toward the door.

"I guess my work here is done, then. See you later, Troy." She smiled shyly as she turned to meet eyes with Troy. His smile never seemed to leave his face.

"Bye." Troy slightly waved his hand, and quickly mouthed "Jealous" towards here. She laughed slightly then left the house until she had to return Monday.

"Troy... we need to talk." Troy stopped walking from his spot on the stairs. He had wanted to go upstairs an just sleep, but now he was being forced to talk with his dad.

"Fine."

"We were just at dinner with your mother." Troy sat down on the steps, surprised. His mom. The one he hadn't seen in a week, The one who had been lying to him for his whole life.

"And?"

"You're staying here for the whole summer. She thinks you could learn from your time here."

Of all the possible words Troy had thought he was going to say in his head, that was definitely not one of them. Troy was taken aback and didn't know what to say. He wasn't as mad as he was broken. _Broken. _Broken into tiny pieces. He didn't know what to do, didn't know how to respond. Standing up, he quietly walked up the stairs towards his room, not wanted to have any sort of confrontation with his dad. All he wanted was to sleep and forget the feeling of hate he had acquired for his mother over the past couple of days.


	13. Chapter 12

"I can't believe you, Gabby!" Sharpay was pacing back and forth in front of Gabriella, who was positioned on her bed.

"But--" Gabriella tried, but was instantly denied.

"No Buts! Me and him were getting along fine! You just had to go an ruin it!"

"Actually..." Gabriella clutched her pillow tightly to her chest, scared of what Sharpay would do or say.

"No! I can actually see this going somewhere, Gabby! Can't you see that!? I'm a failure when it comes to relationships! Then I meet him and it's like---" Gabriella had had enough of Sharpay's Bull shit.

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Sharpay Just Shut up! Don't give me that Bull shit of 'oh he's the one!' You know Damn well that you are just using him!" Gabriella was now on her feet and waving her hands frantically.

"No I'm not! I really like him!" Sharpay rebutted.

"Yeah? Well so Do I!"

"Come on Troy. Talk to me." Steven pleaded.

"Leave him alone." Lauren walked up to Steven from where he stood in front of Troy's bedroom door. "When he wants to come out, he will."

"No. This is all your fault anyway."

"Steven, you're overreacting. He barely talked to me anyway."

"At least he said one word to me! Now he's completely cutting himself off!"

"What? Like you did?" Lauren tested hoping that Steven would yell back, but he didn't. His face sunk and he walked away toward his room.

Troy could hear the argument coming from the other side of the wall, and it pained him that he had caused what seemed to be a happy couple to argue. He knew he was probably over reacting. I mean, it was only the summer right? But he couldn't shake the thought of it turning into more. What would happen if his mom decided that life without Troy was so much better than life with Troy. From anyone other than Troy, it might seem like an outrageous and dramatic thought, but it wasn't. He was already abandoned by one parent. It was only a matter of time until the other one realized how much more fun life would be without Troy.

Gabriella arrived to babysit at 8:00 Monday morning. She wasn't in a very pleasant mood and she knew that it was only going to get worse. She hadn't talked to Sharpay since the argument they had and her mom was mad at her for an unknown reason.

"Gabriella!" Emily screamed from the front porch. Gabriella smiled as she approached the Bolton front door and opened it for both herself and the little girl standing in front of her. When she opened the door she could see a very tired looking Troy sitting in the kitchen.

"Thank God you're here." Troy said as he stood up and yawned. He began walking toward the stairs.

"Where are you going?"

"Sleep"

"Oh. No, no, no. You are not going back to bed."

"I didn't go to sleep until like 3 in the morning." Troy argued.

"And whose fault was that?"

"Well it wasn't mine."

"Oh really? How wasn't it yours!? You chose to stay up. It was your decision! No one else can take that decision away from you, no matter how hard they try! But sometimes people decide that as soon as they want to stay up, You're not allowed anymore!" Gabriella screamed walking towards Troy pointing her finger at him. She had reached her breaking point. Sharpay had finally broke her.

"Ok... What are you talking about?" Gabriella blinked and focused on Troy standing directly in front of her instead of her anger that was consuming her thoughts. His hands were up in defeat and his face was shocked.

"I..." Gabriella groaned. She honestly didn't know how to respond so she took a step back and walked into the kitchen.

"Talk about PMS." Troy sighed as he continued his travel up the stairs and back into his room.

**Sorry it was such a long wait and that it isn't even that long. I'm going to TRY to get another chapter out next week but I'm not entirely sure if I can. I'm swamped with homework and I have a really huge Essay due soon that I got to start. Then on Friday I'm going on vacation for a week and a half, so forgive me in advance if I don't update in 3-4 weeks? **


	14. Chapter 13

**Long Wait. Sorry. I have a four-day weekend because of senior prom so I'm hoping to update one more chapter this weekend. :) By the way I LOVE the song California Gurls by Katy Perry! It just makes my life! Alright, anyway... Here we go...**

Troy knew that he probably shouldn't have left Gabriella alone but he went to sleep at 3 in the morning and literally 4 hours later he was woken up by Lizzie. She had wanted to try to make pancakes again. Lizzie had spilled the milk all over the floor. Luckily for her, though not so much for Troy, they had another gallon in the fridge. Then While she was trying to get the egg into the mix, she dropped a lot of the shell into the bowl, so they had to start all over again. That was about the time that Gabriella had walked into the house with an excited Lizzie.

He was so relieved to see Gabriella, but he didn't think about her. He wanted to go to bed, and he wanted to go to bed now. Nothing was going to get in his way. Even if it meant leaving Gabriella alone with a very excited Ben and an even more excited Lizzie. Now, looking back on it, he realized that he could've stayed up for a couple more hours until Steve and Lauren got home.

"Well, look at who finally got up." Gabriella said in a sarcastic tone that Troy thought was unusual.

"Sorry." He replied and sat next to Lizzie on the couch.

"Whatever." Gabriella replied, refocusing herself on her and Ben's card game in front of her.

"So..." Troy started after moments of silence, "Is Sharpay coming over?"

Gabriella groaned, stood up, and walked into the bathroom slamming the door. Lizzie and Ben stared shocked at the bathroom door as Troy did the same.

"I-Uh... How'd the pancakes turn out Liz?" Troy asked still focusing on the bathroom door but trying to pull the kids attention away from it at the same time.

"Lizzie burnt them." Ben said. Troy wasn't used to Ben talking to him. Ben never liked him.

"Did she? Liz..." Troy asked but nobody had the chance to answer because the bathroom door slammed open. Troy stared at Gabriella because at first glance she looked angry as hell but once you looked closer you'd see the marks left by the toilet paper under her eyes trying to hide the evidence that her makeup had left when it ran down her face. Once she realized that the kids were staring at her she put on a false smile.

"Gabby, can we go to the park?" Ben asked.

"It's not really up to me. It's up to your dad. You should call him." She smiled and sniffled at the same time. Lizzie jumped up too and they raced to the kitchen to retrieve the phone.

"So... we don't like Sharpay anymore?" Troy asked

"Well, I'm not exactly on speaking terms with her, but you're not me. You're entitled to your own opinion. It's not up to me who you decide to like, even if she is a bitch who tries to control every freaking person that enters her life." Gabriella said getting angrier and angrier with every word.

"Ok. So I don't like Sharpay anymore." Troy stood up and smiled triumphantly.

"Why Not?" Gabriella asked

"Because You're obviously pissed at her. So why shouldn't I?"

"But she didn't do anything to you."

"Well she did something to you, didn't she?"

"So?"

"So... I know you more and I like you better. She's creepy. All she did yesterday was touch my butt and giggle. She's like a stalker. So Ultimately I'm on your side." Troy said and walked into the kitchen to monitor the phone call making sure if he said yes or no.

Gabriella smiled insanely. She had always thought that guys liked Sharpay better because she was more outgoing. Now finally, someone liked HER better than Sharpay.

Everything seemed to be going a lot better than they started out going, but then the doorbell rang.

Troy opened the door to reveal a very dressed up Sharpay. Before Troy could say or do anything Sharpay practically tackled him, smothering him with her lips, which at the time were very pink and shiny. Gabriella couldn't believe how bold Sharpay was. She just stood there thinking how much of a bitch Sharpay was being, but then again it didn't seem as if Troy was resisting.

"Get off me!" Troy yelled pushing Sharpay off of him.

"But, but... but don't you want some?" Sharpay asked getting closer to him once again.

Troy hesitated then gave in to his moral code. "NO!" Sharpay quickly turned to face Gabriella.

"What did you tell him?" Sharpay screamed.

"Other than you being a bitch, nothing." Gabriella said with attitude.

Sharpay was just about to leave the house with her dignity, but decided against it when she remembered a key piece of information. "So I guess you haven't worked up the nerve to tell him about your HUGE crush on him have you?"

Gabriella could feel the heat rushing to her cheeks but she didn't cry like she expected herself to. She just stood there staring at Sharpay and ignoring Troy.

"Wow Shar, Just Wow...You would." Gabriella said trying to play it off but she could still feel Troy's stare on her.

Sharpay then ran out of the house and into her car and drove off. Lizzie coughed and both teens turned to see both children standing with wide eyes, one of which was holding a phone that was still on.

"D-daddy wants to talk to you." Lizzie said as she extended her arm with the phone in her hand.

"Shit." Gabriella mumbled as she put the receiver up to her ear.


	15. Chapter 14

Gabriella took the phone from Lizzie and walked into the other room to avoid the embarrassment that might follow.

"H-Hello?"

"Gabriella. What just happened?" Steven sounded concerned.

"Well, You see... I-I don't really know. I'm really sorry, I just..." Gabriella couldn't pull her thoughts together. If she wanted her car she really needed this job. She had tried to get a job at several different stores but they picked other people for the job instead of her.

"Gabriella, I don't want you around the kids if you're going to be cursing and getting into fights. Who was that anyway?" Gabriella was now crying. She didn't want to lose her job; not this way.

"I understand that, but she just barged into the house, I swear."

"How do I know that this doesn't happen all the time?" Steven asked obviously annoyed.

"Dad? It's Troy." Troy picked up the other receiver that was in the living room. He had been listening to the conversation and heard Gabriella crying.

"Troy what do you want? I'm in the middle of something right now."

"Well, I Uh... I invited Sharpay over. I knew that her and Gabriella were fighting but I invited her over anyway to annoy Gabriella. It wasn't Gabriella's fault. It was mine." Troy spoke trying to fit as many syllable into one breath as he could.

"Gabriella is this true?" Steven asked, not fully trusting Troy's words.

"What? So you don't believe me?" Troy was now irritated. His dad had no reason not to believe him.

"Troy..." Steven sighed.

"Don't Troy me! You're the one who doesn't believe son!"

"Would you stop it?" Steven asked as politely as he could. When Troy didn't say anything he continued to talk. "Gabriella is what Troy just said the truth?"

"Y-yeah. I had nothing to do with Sharpay coming over." Gabriella hated to lie, especially about something that might get Troy into trouble.

"Troy, Why did you invite Sharpay over?" Steven didn't believe the two teens that were on the other line. He had been in this situation when he was a teenager way too many times.

"Because Gabriella... threw up on me and I felt the need to get revenge."

"That was an accident." Gabriella spoke up.

"Oh would you just shut up." Troy didn't understand why she was arguing with him considering that he was taking the blame from her.

"Well, don't let it happen again Gabriella."

"Ok. Sorry Mr. Bolton."

"Call me Steve." Steve hung up after having nothing else to say.

"Ok... bye to you too." Troy said sarcastically into the speaker.

Gabriella ran out of the kitchen and practically tackled Troy to the ground.

"Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you."

Troy relaxed into the hug after a while and put his arms around her waist. As she spoke the last 'thank you', she made the mistake of looking into this eyes. For a while they just stood there just staring and holding each other. Gabriella's heart almost jumped out of her chest as she saw his eyes move back and forth between her eyes and her lips. Slowly but surely, he leaned down and she leaned forward and their lips connected in the most passion filled kiss either had ever experienced.

"Are we going to the park now?" Lizzie asked as her presence became aware by the two teens. Troy and Gabriella separated but didn't dare look away from one another.

"Yeah, Yeah. Sure." Troy said uninterested in his younger half-sister. All he did was lean down again to reunite their lips.


	16. Chapter 15

At the end of his shift, Steven came home to Lizzie and Ben playing a game of cards on the living room floor, Gabriella and Troy nowhere in sight. All of a sudden he heard a loud beeping noise coming from the kitchen, indicating that there was a fire. He rushed in there to see Troy struggling with a pot of soup and Gabriella laughing insanely. There was smoke everywhere.

"You're such a dork." Gabriella giggled and stood up to help him out. He sarcastically laughed and picked her up to spin her around. Neither of them caring about the smoke alarm or the presence of Steve.

Steven coughed loudly to catch the attention of the two teens flirting and having fun together. Gabriella blushed insanely and grabbed one of the dish towels that was sitting on the counter. She started to wave air up towards the smoke alarm, trying to get it to shut up. Troy just stood there trying to figure out whether to say something or to just continue cooking.

"What are you two trying to make?"

"Well Troy is trying to make soup." Gabriella said after she finally got the smoke alarm to stop sounding.

"OK then. Continue." Steve said as he pushed open the kitchen door and walked back into the living room. He remembered when Troy's mom had tried to teach him how to cook. It was the most fun either of them had with one another. Steven had actually started a fire though, but they distinguished it with water. Since both of them had already gotten wet and the kitchen was a mess, they decided to have a food fight. Looking back on it brought a smile to Steve's face so he left the two kids alone to make their own memories.

"That was awkward." Troy finally spoke as he went to sit on one of the bar stools. Gabriella sat next to him and just stared at him, not knowing what to say. They both sat there in silence for a while just enjoying each other's company. The alarm went off again and Troy stood up quickly and turned around to face the stove.

Gabriella sat their laughing her head off as Troy ran to the oven to turn it off. Troy sighed in relief as the alarm stopped once again. Gabriella was still laughing and in an effort to look cool and calm Troy leaned back on his hands and felt a surge of pain run through his body.

"Can I play?" Steve asked his children as he entered the living room from the kitchen.

"Yeah. We're playing Go Fish." Lizzie replied and gave him three cards.

"How come I only get three cards and you guys get 7?"

"Because your older than us." Lizzie justified. Steve smiled and nodded in understanding. He jumped when the alarm sounded again and looked at his two children who were as calm as ever.

"Why are you two just sitting there? I always taught you that when that sound goes off, you have to run outside."

"We did. But after the 4th time, we got bored of running outside." Ben spoke up. Steven laughed. "Got any threes?"

Steven was amazed at how calm his kids were with the annoying sound coming from the kitchen. Having a three, Steve handed it over to his son. With the alarm sounding, Steve was starting to get a head ache. He got up to try and help them turn it off but they seemed to have managed on their own, so he sat back down.

"Daddy, do you have any fours?" Lizzie asked but was drowned out by the sound of Troy's scream coming from the kitchen. Steve shot up and ran into the kitchen to reveal Troy holding his hand in pain and Gabriella standing over him trying to get a peek of what happened.


	17. Chapter 16

"Troy! You need to calm down!" Steven yelled over Troy's cries of pain. They were in the car and had left Lizzie and Ben with Gabriella.

"IT HURTS!" Troy screamed grasping his hand trying effortlessly to make the pain stop.

"Troy... We're almost there. It'll be 5 more minutes."

"PLUS THE WAITING ROOM!" Troy leaned his head back against the back of the seat and scrunched his eyes to a close.

"Ok. So it might be 15 minutes.. but that's it, no longer." Steven looked over at his son whilst stopped at a red light. He reached over and put a hand on his shoulder. "It'll be ok."

"No... It hurts now!" Troy had finally reached his breaking point. He had always seen the movies and TV shows with the most annoying patient that never shuts up. He now knew that he was that patient, but he couldn't help it. It hurt like hell.

"Troy there isn't anything we can do about it. You're going to have to calm down."

"We can do something! You... you can... you can punch me! That'll knock me out... and... and I won't be able to feel anything." Troy blurted out as they turned into the entrance of the hospital.

"Troy. Listen to yourself! You don't want me to punch you!"

"No, No... I do. I really want you to punch me."

"No, you've got to fight through this. Do you want to be that guy that has everybody else fight his battle for him? You can't ALWAYS take the easy way out of everything and the sooner you realize that the sooner everything in your life, not just your hand, will stop hurting." Steven said as he opened the car door for Troy.

"Of all the moments we talked, you picked now to lecture me?" He asked as he climbed out of the car.

"Well, It's very hard to lecture somebody who only says one word at a time."

They walked for a while in silence, except for several groans coming from Troy's mouth. As the doctor walked into the waiting room and called Troy's name, Troy stood up anxiously and started walking towards the double doors, before he turned around.

"You tell anybody, and I mean anybody, that I basically just cried like a baby, I will... I will... Well I don't know but I'll do something so bad that You won't be able to sleep at night." Troy said and turned back around to follow the doctor into the treatment room.

Gabriella sighed as she followed the two kids into the kitchen to make them dinner. She laughed when she saw the pot of uncooked soup on the counter but cringed from the thought of Troy's pain as she looked at the stove.

"I'm Home!" Lauren called from the door. "Did Steve not come home? I didn't see his car in the driveway."

Gabriella exited the kitchen. "He's at the hospital-"

"Why? What happened? Is he ok? Are the kids ok? Troy? Is Troy ok? Oh please tell me everything is ok." Lauren said in a panic as she dropped her purse on the floor.

"For Troy. He's at the hospital for Troy. He burnt his hand on the stove. It looked pretty bad. " Gabriella said watching as Lauren took into consideration what Gabriella just told her.

"Well, I'm sure he'll be fine honey." Lauren said as she walked up to Gabriella and hugged her. For once, Gabriella felt that it was ok to cry. She didn't care who was watching, she just let it all out. For the first in a while.


	18. Chapter 17

Troy woke up the next morning in his own room, only able to remember entering the hospital room and nothing else. He sat up and instantly felt a surge of pain rush to his head. He'd only ever drank alcohol to an excessive point once but stopped because his head couldn't handle the hangover. Now he only sneaks one beer every now and then.

Not thinking, he tried to stand up looking to his hands for support. He groaned as he remembered the purpose of the white tape around his hand. Shifting his weight he managed to get to the edge of the bed and stand.

Gabriella was already making lunch for Ben and Lizzie when she heard Troy's bedroom door open upstairs. She dusted off her hands, allowing the crumbs to fall into a sloppy pile on the counter in front of her and made her way to the kitchen door.

"Good Morning sleepy head." She giggled as she approached the disheveled boy in front of her. He yawned and ran his good hand through his hair. This is the first time since Steve drove away that she saw Troy. After Lauren came home, Gabriella decided to leave the kids with her and head home.

"Yeah, well..." Troy tried to finish his sentence but gave into a yawn that was pending in his throat. "That's why I don't use the oven."

Gabriella not knowing what else to say walked back towards the kitchen door that was still slightly swinging back and forth from Gabriella's exit moments before. Troy took this as a moment to follow her into the kitchen and get something for his stomach to digest.

"So, You want a peanut butter and jelly sandwich?" Gabriella asked as he sat down in the bar stool across from where she was preparing the kids' lunch. Watching as he nodded his head, she took out two more fresh slices of bread and began spreading the appropriate amounts of the substances onto them.

Two hours later found Troy and Gabriella on the couch watching another Disney movie with Lizzie and Ben sitting on the floor. Gabriella was sitting up and Troy had his head on her thighs.

"How's your hand feeling?" Gabriella whispered to Troy who looked up at her from his resting spot.

"It Still hurts... but I think I'll survive." Troy whispered back.

"Are you sure?" Gabriella asked skeptically.

"Well, you know the doctors think I'm going to die in 2 weeks from my undeniable good looks, so they're not really interested in my hand." He joked.

"Oh You poor thing."

"Well, I feel more bad for you considering it's highly contagious."

"Oh... So I'll become unbearably attractive too?"

"No. You'll just give in to my handsome charm. You don't have to worry about that though. I understand." He said nodding and smiling up at Gabriella.

"I don't think we'll have to worry about that too much." She said as she watched him pout and contemplate what to say next.

"Why not?"

"Because, I think you're losing your attractiveness." She said as she shrugged. she laughed as he sighed dramatically.

"It's worse than I thought. You're in the denial phases of my terminal illness."

"I don't think I am." She joked and placed her hand on his head.

"No, No. I'm pretty sure you are."

"Would You two just shut up!" Ben screamed from his place on the floor. "We're trying to watch a movie!"

"Sorry." They both said at the exact same time. Troy looked up and nodded his head, while she shook hers back.

The door opened revealing Steven and Lauren, both completely drenched.

"It's raining?" Gabriella thought out loud causing Lauren and Steve to look at her.

"Yes. It's coming down like cats and dogs out there!" Lauren replied as she took off her coat to put onto the coat rack by the door.

"See? I never understood that saying. Why can't it be raining antelopes and Billy goats?" Troy spoke to himself but loud enough that everyone could hear.

"That's because you, my friend, are a dork." Gabriella replied to his rhetorical question.

Steven and Lauren took that as a moment to leave the room to allow the kids to discuss the meanings of different sayings.

"Could you have come in any louder last night?" Lauren asked as they neared the kitchen door.

"It's hard to direct a 17 year old whose high off of anesthesia to his bed room." Steven replied with a chuckle remembering all of the crazy things Troy had admitted the night before.

"I guess you're right." Lauren replied and she was right to assume that the task was hard. Troy had continually yelled random words at the top of his lungs throughout the car ride. He constantly reminded Steve that he had to 'tinkle' and that he understood why people liked the color purple. Much To Steve's dismay, Troy had even managed to admit that he was glad that he had stayed rather than return home. Steven wasn't sure if it was just Troy's state of mind at the time, but nonetheless it gave Steve hope that he could fix his relationship with his first son, and hope was all he needed.


	19. Chapter 18

**So Sorry that it's been a while. I've been really busy and my nana died. So I have another story planned. It's not the kind of story I normally write considering its told in the perspective of Sharpay, but don't worry it was MAJOR Troyella going on. :) Well Enjoy this chapter. It jumped a lot from the last couple of chapters and I'm sorry for that. I just didn't think that it was going fast enough. There's probably going to be somewhere between 3-6 chapters left. I might do a sequel. It just might be in a little bit. **

Troy returned to the hospital one week later so the doctor's could check his burns. They weren't as bad as originally thought so they released Troy to go home with only medicine to help with the pain. Now sitting on the hammock 2 months later, Gabriella and Troy were contemplating what was to come.

"Troy... You're leaving in a week." Gabriella stated sorrowfully. They had dreaded the day that he had to leave for a month now.

"It'll be ok. We'll keep in touch. Besides there's a chance I might come back next summer." Troy replied while playing with Gabriella's hair.

"Remember the time we went bowling and you were telling me about your friend Charles or Chad or whatever his name was?"

"Yeah." Troy laughed at her confusion but was still trying to figure out where she was going with what she was saying.

"Well I don't want to end up like him. You said that he moved away and you never saw or spoke to him again. I don't want to never talk to you again."

"You don't have to worry about that, Gabriella. I'll never ever stop talking to you."

"But you don't even live in the state, Troy." She said as she looked up towards him.

"Albuquerque isn't that far from here. Plus, we have facebook and our cell phones. We'll be fine." Troy was starting to feel worried. What is she didn't want to keep in touch? What if she just wanted to move on with her life and forget this relationship had ever happened?

"Troy... what if this doesn't work? What if we're fighting for something that isn't worth it?"

"What are you trying to say?"

"I'm saying that What if-" Gabriella looked up from her thoughts when the back door opened up revealing Steven.

"You kids ready to go?" Steven asked and looked at the two teenagers who looked deep in thought. "I interrupted something."

"No It's fine." Gabriella said as she stood up and walked into the house. Steven began to follow until he noticed that Troy hadn't moved.

"Troy? What's going on?" Steven said as he turned back to face his son.

"Nothing." Troy grumbled as he sat up in the hammock.

"I know that I haven't really been here for you that long, but It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that something is wrong. Just tell me."

"I came here! That's what's wrong. Not just for two weeks like originally but for the summer! The whole fricking summer! And now I have to leave!" Troy said as he passed Steven and walked into the house.

"Well this is going to be a long day at the beach." Steven said to nobody but himself.

The car ride that was normally filled with sarcastic comments from the teens was silent. Gabriella was looking out the window at all the trees passing by. Troy didn't seem to know where to look as his eyes were constantly moving between the floor, the window and Gabriella.

"Yellow car." Lizzie said and pointed to a passing Yellow Ferrari. Lizzie and Ben had been playing a game they had just made up where you had to pick out all of the yellow cars you could find. The one with the most points at the end of the car ride won.

"You're still losing." Ben stated as he stuck out his tongue at Lizzie.

"Not for long." She replied smugly and turned back to the window to look for more yellow colored vehicles.

"We're here!" Steven's voice drowned the silence of the car an hour later.

"I won!" Lizzie screamed excitedly and jumped out of the car.

"That's because you cheated. Gabriella was helping you." Ben said as he jumped out of the car after her.

Troy got out of the car slowly and stretched his legs. He looked around at everything that was around. There was a volleyball court that he was sure wouldn't be empty for long, and a pier that was crowded beyond belief. Troy made his way to the trunk to help Steve and Lauren with the coolers.

Gabriella laced her hand with Lizzie as she was dragged to the water's edge. Troy watched as Gabriella took off her shirt to reveal the top of a pink polka dotted bathing suit. He couldn't help but feel drawn to her but what good would that do when she appeared to not want to continue with their relationship.

"Troy!" Steven yelled as Troy looked away from Gabriella to notice that he was dropping the cooler. He quickly replaced his hands on the handles and settled it.

"Sorry. My bad." Troy said as he walked to the spot that Ben was building a sand castle. "What are you building?"

"What does it look like?" Ben had still not grown fond of Troy but Troy never gave up trying. Troy rarely ever gave up and he certainly wasn't planning on giving up on Gabriella.


	20. Chapter 19

**Thanks for the response to last chapter. Like all writers I LOVE reviews, so be sure to review! **

Troy walked over to where Lauren, Steve, and Gabriella were lounging on towels. He'd been talked into playing soccer with Ben and Lizzie and he was now incredibly exhausted. He let out a sigh and laid down with his arm over his head.

"Rough game?" Steven asked with a chuckle as he watched Troy nod his head in response.

"Here have some water before you head back out there." Lauren handed a water bottle across the blanket into Troy's hands.

"No. No way am I going back out there to play with them." Troy grumbled before he put the water bottle into his mouth.

"You might want to try telling them that then." Gabriella pointed out.

"TROY!" Lizzie and Ben ran over and knelt next to Troy's laying body as he sighed.

"Troy, Do you want to play volleyball with us now? There's a court over there." Lizzie asked between her deep breaths. Troy groaned and sat up.

"Now?" He asked defeated.

"Yeah. Now. Come on!" Ben said and the two kids raced off.

"Have fun." Gabriella replied feigning innocence.

"Oh we will." He said as he approached her.

"We?" "No You see, they asked you, not me." She said adding the latter after he had nodded his head.

"Teams won't be even. Now come on." And with that said, Troy dragged Gabriella by the hand over to the courts.

"They're cute." Lauren observed.

"Those are the couples you have to watch out for." Steven replied looking at the two teens who were currently chasing around his kids.

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean is that he's leaving. They're probably going to try and do something so that they won't have to leave each other." Lauren chuckled.

"Steve, stop being so paranoid. They aren't going to try and get pregnant so they have to stay together. They're smarter than that."

"That's what people thought about me and Lucille." HIs reply was emotionless as he got up to dust off his butt. "I'll be right back." And then he was gone, leaving Lauren wondering where her marriage was headed.

"TROY! That's Cheating!" Lizzie screamed from the opposite side of the net. They decided that the fairest way to play was to have boys against girls.

"How is that cheating?"

"You aren't allowed to spike it at me! I'm younger than you." Gabriella giggled from her position behind Lizzie. Troy put his hands up in defense as if to say 'alright, won't happen again.'

Gabriella served the ball again which headed right to Ben. Ben was able to bump the ball back over the net at Lizzie, who missed it terribly.

"Ben! What did I just say?" Lizzie asked obviously annoyed.

"Liz, that wasn't a spike." Troy spoke up defending the boy who looked upset beside him.

"Yeah Lizzie. I didn't even hit it that hard." Ben said and approached the net where his sister was already standing.

"I'm younger!" She shouted in defense.

"So? That's not an excuse!" Ben retaliated.

"Yes! It does! I'm younger so you can't play as hard!"

"Guys. Come on. We can just play a different game if you guys are just going to argue." Gabriella suggested.

"No. I don't want to play another game." Ben said.

"I do. I'm not very good at volleyball." Lizzie said as she stepped off the court. When she noticed that nobody was following her she turned back around. "What are you guys waiting for? Let's build a sandcastle."

"No. I want to play volleyball." Troy looked back and forth between Ben and Lizzie, not knowing which to follow or what to say to calm the situation down.

"How about we build a sand castle and then come back to volleyball later?" Troy finally said.

"She always gets what she wants! It's not fair!" Ben screamed and threw the volleyball to the ground and ran back to where his mom was sitting.

"Yay! Let's go." Lizzie said while dragging Troy and Gabriella to a spot that she thought would be perfect for building the perfect sand castle.

"Hold up. I'm going to go and check on your brother. I'll be right back." Troy said.

"Ok." Lizzie agreed but it was too late because he was already at the blanket.

"Ben, Come on." Troy said as excitedly as he could.

"No. I don't want to do anything with her." He replied while placing and apple slice in his mouth.

"Why not?"

"She gets everything she wants just because she's younger. It's not fair."

"You're right. It's not fair. But it doesn't matter." Troy said as he contemplated what he was going to say to a 8 year old to make him understand. "But being older isn't all that bad. You get to do more things. You can stay up later, and go out with your friends more often. Being older is more fun."

"It doesn't feel fun."

"That's because you aren't acting older."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, if you were acting older, you wouldn't care that Lizzie gets everyone's attention because you'd realize that while she's getting the attention she has to stay with adults. You're old enough now that you can hang with me and Gabriella without your parents supervision."

"But Lizzie hangs with us when you guys baby sit us."

"But You're there. You're technically an adult to her."

"I am?" Troy wanted to laugh at how big Ben's eyes got but decided against it.

"Yeah. You just have to remember not to get upset with Lizzie." Troy nodded. "Now come on. We've got a sand castle to build." Ben reached to grab Troy's hand as he led them back to where Gabriella and Lizzie were waiting patiently.

When the sand castle was complete, Lizzie could barely stand. She was exhausted and it was clear. Troy picked her up and carried her back to the blanket to where her parents were waiting.

"Can we walk along the water now?" Ben asked Troy and Gabriella. When the nodded he ran off towards the water's edge. "Come on, slow pokes."

"Look, Troy, we need to talk." Gabriella said looking at her hands.

"Why? Can't we just enjoy today and not talk about tomorrow?"

"No. As long as I'm thinking about what I need to say, I'm not going to be about to enjoy this."

Troy nodded confidently but was nervous on the inside. He didn't want to say goodbye to her. He wanted to stay here forever but he knew that would break his mom's heart.

"I don't want to fight for us if we don't have any chance to win the war."

"Fight for us? What do you mean fight for us?"

"When you go back to your home and when I go back to school, there's going to be chances to see other people. I don't want to look like an idiot, turning everybody down while you're off with some girl."

"But I won't be with some other girl."

"But you don't know that. You could meet this completely awesome girl who is hot and likes what you like. Some girl that is better than me."

"That's impossible."

"Troy, please just listen. We survived the summer. But that's nothing. We don't even live in the same state."

"But earlier you were saying that we could try."

"Well, I've been thinking about it, and I change my mind. Who are we trying to kid? We're completely different people, Troy. I mean, I don't want to say goodbye, but what other choice do we have?" Gabriella was now crying but Troy didn't want to comfort her. Comforting her would ensue that there was a problem. A problem he never wanted to admit they had.

"Gabby, we can work through it."

"Troy, I love you, I really do. But I think it'd be easier if we just said goodbye now, rather than pretend like the inevitable isn't going to happen." And with that Gabriella was gone, but Troy didn't chase after her. HIs feet were planted to the ground wondering how everything changed in a matter of 2 hours.


	21. Chapter 20

**Last Chapter! I must say that I enjoyed writing this story so much. I'm probably going to start a sequel. I just have to write a few chapters first so you don't have to wait as long for chapters if I have a writer's block. I hope you enjoyed this story as much as I did. **

Troy was miserable. For 6 days all Troy could think about was Gabriella and when his thoughts were centered around the girl who broke his heart, he obviously couldn't be in such a good mood. He sulked around the house instead of doing as many things as he could do before he couldn't do them anymore. His mom was coming to pick him up in 4 hours. 4 hours was all he had; All that was left of what seemed to be the perfect summer. Well, it was perfect until now.

He picked himself up out of bed and went to get changed. There was no use getting a shower seeing as he had a plane ride soon. He looked at the clock, dreading what time it could read. 10:30.

"Great." He said to no one but himself, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Now I only have 3 and a half hours."

His thoughts were interrupted, thankfully, when a knock on the door sounded through his room. When he said so, a tall figure entered his room and sat on the bed.

"Listen Troy, I can't stand to see you upset. Just go and talk to her." Steven said after several minutes of silence.

"There's nothing to say."

"There's plenty to say."

"She doesn't want to talk!" Troy snapped.

"Make her talk. I made the same mistake you're making right now with your mom. I didn't think that she wanted to talk so I waited, and now here I am; without her."

"But it's different."

"It's not different."

"Yeah it is. I didn't cheat on Gabriella. I just have to move back."

"It's the same scenario, just with different events leading up to it."

Troy thought about it. Maybe he could go and see Gabriella. But what if she rejected him? He couldn't handle that, not again.

"This was a stupid idea." Troy finally said after he was fully finished thinking about his predicament.

"What was?"

"Me coming here."

"You seemed to enjoy yourself."

"Well, I was. But now I have to leave. So... yeah. Pretty stupid idea if I do say so myself." Troy replied and walked out of the room to get something to eat. His decision was final. Gabriella can come to him. He didn't _need _her to be happy.

With Gabriella

"I don't want to go to the movies Sharpay." After the beach incident, Gabriella got a Taxi to return home. Instead of going into her own house, where she'd have to deal with her parent's problems instead of her own, she went to the house she wanted to be at the most: Sharpay's.

"Listen, Gabby. You need to get over him. He obviously doesn't care enough to apologize."

"He didn't do anything wrong though. He's just moving."

"Well, when he moves are you going to see him everyday like you're used to?"

"No, of course not."

"Then what's the point? You guys survived because you were in such close proximity. But now? Now you won't be able to see each other as often. It'll tear you apart eventually. You might as well get over the heart break now."

"I guess you're right. I just wish I would've said goodbye a little nicer." Sharpay sighed from next to Gabriella. She looked at her watch and then back at her heart broken friend.

"If you get the chance to say goodbye, would you please come with me to the movie?"

Gabriella nodded and smiled at her friend. She hadn't expected Sharpay to be so nice after their fight over Troy. She quickly got to her feet and followed her best friend out of the door.

With Troy

"Hello Steven." Troy's mom's voice filled the living room when she entered. "Hi Lauren."

"Hello Lucille. I'm so glad I could finally meet you." Lauren replied holding her hand out for Lucille to shake.

"Same to you. And you must be Lizzie." Lucille smiled bending down to the blonde haired girl hiding behind her mother's leg.

"Yes, Yes I am." Lizzie said smiling triumphantly.

"Well, the plane leaves in 2 hours. We should probably be heading out." Lucille said looking at Troy, who was sitting next to Ben on the couch.

"I'm going to miss you." Ben said as he hugged Troy.

"I'll see you again." Troy replied as he hugged Ben back.

"But when?" Troy looked around the room not sure of how to respond.

"He'll come back real soon. I promise." Steve said coming to his rescue. "We can arrange that later."

"Bye Troy." Lizzie was the next to hug Troy. "How am I supposed to learn how to cook if you're not here?" Troy smiled remembering his injury.

"I don't think I was much help anyway. I was worse than you." He said and bent down to talk to the two little kids in front of him. "Ben, remember what I said about being a big kid. And Lizzie, don't let Ben boss you around." Both kids smiled and kissed Troy's cheeks. Troy stood up and turned to Lauren.

"Thanks for letting me stay here for the summer." Troy said as he hugged his dad's wife.

"I'm just glad you enjoyed yourself."

The last person in the room was Steven. Troy approached the man he began the summer hating. He spent the beginning of the summer trying to make Steven's life a living hell, only to realize that Steve had never deserved such cruelty. Now, with all the negative emotions pushed aside, Troy realized that he never really hated Steve. He was just scared that Steve would leave again.

"Thanks for making me come." Troy said and Steven laughed.

"Remember, no more fights. And remember now that we've gotten here please don't be a stranger. Come by anytime. You're always welcome." Steve pulled Troy into a hug. "I love you Troy."

"I love you too dad." And with those words said it seemed as if Steve had completed what he set out to do. He had the faith that he would see Troy again; not because his parents made him, but because Troy sincerely wanted to see him again.

"Alright, Let's go Troy. I'll see you later Steve. We'll talk about next summer." Lucille said as she opened the front door. Troy looked outside and to his surprise he saw two girls about to knock on the door. One brunette, the other blonde.

"Gabby?"

"Hi Troy."

"Oh Yeah sure, say hi to me." The blonde spoke up from the background and made her way to Lucille. "Hi. You must be Troy's mom. Let's go inside."

"But, we really have to go. The plane leaves in a little less than two hours and I really don't want to be stuck here."

"If you want your son to be happy, You'll follow me inside."

"So..." Troy spoke, knowing that even though they were alone on the door step, they had no privacy.

"Listen, I lied."

"About what?"

"I don't want you to date anyone else. I want to be your girlfriend."

"But you said-"

"I want to be able for this to work because truthfully I can't stop thinking about you. I don't want it to end the way it did; I don't want it to end at all..." Gabriella continued as if Troy had never spoken.

"I love you too."

"And I really think this can work. We have Christmas... and wait what?" Gabriella finally took into realization the words coming out of Troy's mouth.

"I love you too." He said once again but this time softer. She smiled and stepped closer to her, kissing him one last time before the door would open revealing Lucille who would, in a matter of seconds, drag Troy to the car to be driven to the airport.

At that moment, neither teens cared that they wouldn't see each other for a while. They didn't care that there was a slim chance that a long distance relationship at their age would actually last. All they cared about was each other. All they had to do was hold on. Hold on to the kisses they shared and the words they exchanged. Holding on was what they had to do, and they were prepared to do just that.


End file.
